whales

Whale watching in Monterey

Victoria, British Columbia (Canada) in 2009 is where and when I saw my first cetacean in the wild, a mammal-eating transient killer whale. Since moving to San Diego, I’ve been able to observe many more species between Cabo San Lucas and Victoria, including around the Farallon and Channel Islands. One of my favorite things to do is park myself on a bench at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and watch the eastern North Pacific gray whales hugging our coastline for relative safety. They make trips between their feeding grounds in the Arctic and where they most often give birth in Baja, California (Mexico). Some do so along the way and I’ve been lucky to see a newborn calf in San Diego waters that still had its natal folds. They make these perilous semiannual journeys in the presence of large ships and pods of killer whales that prey on the young grays. It’s about 6,000 miles each way.

Being up in Monterey for a few days recently afforded me the opportunity to head out with Monterey Bay Whale Watch again.

southern sea otter photograph

Southern sea otter with a crown of sparkles

lunge feeding humpback whale photograph

A humpback whale lunge feeding on a school of fish with shorebirds dining as well

humpback whale photograph

The mighty back of a humpback whale

humpback whale fluke with wildfire spoke

The darker bands above the coastline are smoke from the wildfire near Big Sur which we’d planned on revisiting for two nights till the 1 was shut down. It was started by an ember blown from a burn pile inexplicably going while there were strong winds in the area.

humpback mating behavior

Humpback mating behavior

breaching Pacific white-sided dolphin photograph

This Pacific white-sided dolphin inadvertently put on a spectacular show for us while hopefully living its best life.

Pacific white-sided dolphin photograph

Pacific white-sided dolphin headed up to bow ride

northern right whale dolphin-Lissodelphis borealis photograph

Northern right whale dolphins are finless (and adorable in my opinion).

northern right whale dolphin and calf-Lissodelphis borealis photograph

That’s a northern right whale calf leading the charge.

California sea lions thermoregulating

California sea lions thermoregulating

Risso's dolphin-Grampus griseus

All Risso’s dolphins appear to be smiling.

This is Casper, the aptly named and locally famous albino Risso’s.

migrating gray whales-Eschrichtius robustus

Gray whales heading south

mating gray whales-Eschrichtius robustus

Gray whale mating behavior

gray whale fluke-Eschrichtius robustus

Gray whale diving into the swell

sunset over the Pacific Ocean photograph
Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove, California

Goodnight, Monterey Peninsula.